Wednesday, December 29, 2010

2011 Reading ListThe lacuna by barbara kingsolverCutting for stone by abraham verghese -- already on my tbr
The art of racing in the rain by garth steinThe hummingbird’s daughter by luis alberto urrea --added to my tbrRiver of doubt by candace millard -- already on tbr, author's first name actually spelled CandiceThe beekeeper’s apprentice by laurie r. king --already on my tbr
A reliable wife by robert goolrickThe 19th wife by david ebershoff -- already on tbr
Secrets of eden by chris bohjalian
Empire of the summer moon by s.c. gwynne

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Award was established in 2002, with the support of Westfield Bondi Junction as its major sponsor, and the Friends of Waverley Library (FOWL). Recognising excellence in research in the creation of literary works, the Award has been won by some of our finest writers, including Gideon Haigh, Helen Garner, Geoffrey Blainey, Christopher Koch and Robert Gray.

Following Westfield's withdrawal of sponsorship in 2008, Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), agreed to provide $80000 over three years to ensure the continuation of the Award whilst Council looks for an alternative corporate sponsor. Now know as 'The Nib': CAL Waverley Library Award for Literature, the Award offers a highly competitive main prize of $20,000. In addition, each of the 6 finalists receive the Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize, named after one of Australia's most distinguished playwrights who lived in Waverley, and contributed significantly to the Award's success, prior to his untimely death in 2006.

From Finland Literature Exchange "FILI" newsletter accessed 11/21/09. FILI: A World of Books. FILI is an expert and export organisation, which supports the translation, printing and publication of literature and promotes the awareness of Finnish literature abroad.

The Finnish Book Foundation has announced the shortlist of novels, children’s books and non-fiction books that are nominated for this year’s Finlandia Prize, Finland’s most prestigious literary award. The award sum is 30,000 euros.

Non-fiction
Elizabeth Abbott, A History of Marriage
Ian Brown, The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search for His Disabled Son
Allan Casey, Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada --Winner!
Karen Connelly, Burmese Lessons: A Love Story
John English, Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968-2000

Fiction: The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger
Non-fiction: A Place Within: Rediscovering India by M.G. Vassanji
Poetry: The Fly in Autumn by David Zieroth
Drama: Where the Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring
Children's literature, text: Greener Grass: The Famine Years by Caroline Pignat
Children's literature, illustration: Jirina Marton for Bella’s Tree (text by Janet Russell)
Translation, French to English: Susan Ouriou for Pieces of Me by Charlotte Gingras

The Canada Council of the Arts has announced the 69 finalists for the Governor-General Literary Awards (2005). The English-language fiction finalists are:

* Joseph Boyden for Three Day Road
* Golda Fried for Nellcott Is My Darling
* Charlotte Gill for Ladykiller
* David Gilmour for A Perfect Night to Go to China -- WINNER!
* Kathy Page for Alphabet

Nonfiction:
John Vaillant for The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed

1956
The Sacrifice Adele Wiseman Fiction Macmillan Co. of Canada
A Window on the North Robert A.D. Ford Poetry or Drama The Ryerson Press
The Mysterious North Pierre Berton Nonfiction McClelland and Stewart and Knopf
Century of Conflict Joseph Lister Rutledge Nonfiction Doubleday & Co.
Lost in the Barrens Farley Mowat Juvenile Little, Brown and Co.

1961
Acis in Oxford Robert Finch Poetry or Drama University of Toronto Press
The Ascent of Life T.A. Goudge Nonfiction University of Toronto Press
Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place Malcolm Lowry Fiction

1962
Running to Paradise Kildare Dobbs Fiction
The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan Nonfiction
Twelve Letters to a Small Town and The Killdeer and Other Plays James Reaney Poetry or Drama

1969
Rocky Mountain Foot and the Gangs of Kosmos George Bowering Poetry or Drama
The Studhorse Man Robert Kroetsch Fiction
The Shadow-Maker Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry or Drama

1970
The New Ancestors Dave Godfrey Fiction
Still Water bpNichol Poetry or Drama
The True Eventual Story of Billy the Kid bpNichol Poetry or Drama
Beach Head bpNichol Poetry or Drama
The cosmic chef: an evening of concrete bpNichol Poetry or Drama
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid Michael Ondaatje Prose and Poetry

1972
The Manticore Robertson Davies Fiction Macmillan Co. of Canada
Civil Elegies and Other Poems Dennis Lee Poetry or Drama House of Anansi
Lies John Newlove Poetry or Drama McClelland and Stewart

1973
Painters in a New Land Michael Bell Nonfiction McClelland and Stewart
Lions at her Face Miriam Mandel Poetry or Drama White Pelican
The Temptations of Big Bear Rudy Wiebe Fiction McClelland and Stewart

1977
The Wars Timothy Findley Fiction Clarke, Irwin
Essays on the Constitution Frank Scott Nonfiction University of Toronto Press
Under the Thunder the Flowers Light up the Earth D.G. Jones Poetry or Drama

1996 Non-Fiction Nominees
Roy MacGregor The Home Team-Fathers, Sons and Hockey
T.F. Rigelhof A Blue Boy in a Black Dress
Lake Sagaris After the First Death: A Journey Through Chile, Time, Mind
Winner!John Ralston Saul, The Unconscious Civilization
Merilyn Simonds The Convict Lover: A True Story

Non-fiction (English):
Donald Harman Akenson, Surpassing Wonder - The Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds
Michael Bliss, William Osler - A Life in Medicine
Wayson Choy, Paper Shadows - A Chinatown Childhood
Marq de Villiers, Water
Wayne Johnston,Baltimore's Mansion - A Memoir

Translation (French to English):
Patricia Claxton, Gabrielle Roy: A Life
David Homel, Olivo Oliva
Nancy Huston, The Mark of the Angel
Lazer Lederhendler, The Sparrow has Cut the Day in Half
Donald Winkler, The World of the Gift

Children's literature - text (English)
Don Gillmor, The Christmas Orange
Rachna Gilmore, A Screaming Kind of Day
Graham McNamee, Hate You
W.D. Valgardson, The Divorced Kids Club and Other Stories
Frieda Wishinsky, Each One Special

Children's literature - illustration (English):
Gary Clement, The Great Poochini, text by Gary Clement
Rose Cowles, I Know an Old Laddie, text by Jean Little
Zhong-Yang Huang, The Dragon New Year, text by David Bouchard
Ludmila Zeman, Sindbad: from the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights, text by Ludmila Zeman

Poetry (English):
Winner: George Elliott Clarke, for Execution Poems (Gaspereau Press)
Anne Carson, for Men in the Off Hours (Knopf Canada)
Phil Hall, for Trouble Sleeping (Brick Books)
Robert Kroetsch, for The Hornbooks of Rita K. (The University of Alberta Press)
Steve McCaffery, for Seven Pages Missing (Coach House Books)

Drama (English):
Winner: Kent Stetson, for The Harps of God (Playwrights Canada Press)
Mark Brownell, for Monsieur d'Eon (Playwrights Canada Press)
Clem Martini, for A Three Martini Lunch (Red Deer Press)
Michael Redhill, for Building Jerusalem (Playwrights Canada Press)
Jason Sherman, for An Acre of Time: The Play; inspired by the book by Phil Jenkins

Galaxy Book of the Year: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
Outstanding Achievement: Michael Palin
Richard & Judy Best Read: When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel by Kate Atkinson
Author of the Year: Aravind Adiga for The White Tiger
Biography of the Year: Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
Crime Thriller of the Year: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Popular Fiction Award: Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks
Popular Nonfiction Award: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale
New Writer of the Year: Tom Rob Smith for Child 44
Children's Book of the Year: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Under the headline, "Obama battles vampires for Galaxy prize," the Guardian reported that finalists have been named for this year's Galaxy British Book Awards (the Nibbies), and that a "spokesperson for the prize said that the American president would be welcome to attend the awards ceremony on 3 April. 'He's in London for the G20 summit, but I think he will be otherwise engaged,' she added."

The Nibbies shortlists:

Author of the Year
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga -- winner
Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
The Road Home by Rose Tremain

Biography of the Year
At My Mother's Knee . . . and Other Low Joints by Paul O'Grady
Coming Back to Me by Marcus Trescothick
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
Miracles of Life by J.G. Ballard
That's Another Story by Julie Walters

Crime Thriller of the Year
The Business by Martina Cole

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson -- winner
No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
Revelation by C.J. Sansom
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

Newcomer of the Year

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith -- winner

Inside the Whale by Jennie Rooney
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
The Marriage Bureau For Rich People by Farahad Zama
Mudbound by Hilary Jordan
One of Us by Melissa Benn

Popular Fiction Award
Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks --winner
The Outcast by Sadie Jones
Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern
Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble
This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

Popular Non-Fiction Award
The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson
Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth
A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr
The Mighty Book of Boosh by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt
Stephen Fry in America by Stephen Fry
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale -- winner

Richard & Judy's Best Read of the Year
The Bolter by Frances Osborne
The Brutal Art by Jesse Kellerman
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
December by Elizabeth H WinthropThe Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice ColinNetherland by Joseph O'Neill
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

Children's Book of the Year
Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Ben Cort
Horrid Henry Robs the Bank by Francesca Simon
Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People by Dav Pilkey
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer --winner

Saturday, December 11, 2010

ALCS and the Society of Authors created this award in 2008 to ‘celebrate educational writing that inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications’. It is the only UK Award that focuses on educational non-fiction. It is made annually for an outstanding example of traditionally published single volume work, with or without illustration, for the specified age group. The age group alternates each year; this year’s focus was on works for 12 – 18 year olds and in 2011 the focus returns to works for 5 – 11 year olds.

2010 12-18-year olds
Bill Bryson A Really Short History of Nearly Everything

2010 Shortlist:
Ben Crystal for Shakespeare on Toast
John Farndon for Do You Think You’re Clever?
Liz Strachan for A Slice of Pi

The 2009 Award - for the 5-11 age group - was won by the ‘disgustingly good’ Gooey, Chewy, Rumble, Plop Book by Steve Alton, Nick Sharratt and Sally Symes (Bodley Head), seeing off strong competition from four other shortlisted books.
The award was presented at the All Party Writers Group Christmas Reception, hosted by Janet Anderson MP in the House of Commons, on 2nd December. Award judge Ali Barne spoke on behalf of the judging panel which had spent many hours choosing the shortlist from a total of 66 entries before deciding the winner. Barne read citations for all five short-listed books before making the announcement. She spoke of the importance of this award and its unique nature – it is the only UK award to focus on educational non-fiction that enhances learning outside of the essential curriculum. Barne also spoke of the aspirations of the award – to encourage the publication of educational books that both inspire learning and encourage creativity in young readers. Janet Anderson MP presented the winning trio with a cheque for £2000.
The 2009 judges were Ali Barne, Pamela Girdwood and Anthony Haynes.
The four other shortlisted titles were:
How to Make Manga Characters by Katy Coope (Collins Big Cat)
Chocolate – The Bean that Conquered the World by Vivian French, ill. Paul Howard (Walker)
Tail-End Charlie by Mick Manning & Brita Granström (Frances Lincoln)
Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of the First World War by Marcia Williams (Walker)

2008
The winner of the inaugural Educational Writers' Award was Ian Gilbert for The Little Book of Thunks: 260 Questions to Make your Brain Go Ouch! (Crown House Publishing).
Gilbert received his cheque for £2,000 from Dr Ian Gibson MP at a reception at the Stationers' Hall, London. The award was for a non-fiction book published in 2006 and 2007 that enhanced teaching and learning for 12 to 18 year-olds.
The judges described Gilbert's book as "a completely original book to get all ages stretching their imaginations, thinking, discussing cogently and debating… a valuable tool for the teacher”.
The three other shortlisted titles were:
Simon Basher & Adrian Dingle for The Periodic Table – Elements with Style! (Kingfisher)
Tish Farrell for Write Your Own Adventure Stories (Ticktock Media)
Glenn Murphy for Why Is Snot Green?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Miguel de Cervantes Prize (Spanish: Premio Miguel de Cervantes), established in 1976, is awarded annually to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language. The prize is similar to the Booker Prize, with its candidates from Commonwealth countries, in that it rewards authors from any Spanish-speaking nation. Unlike the Booker Prize, it is awarded only once in recognition of the recipient's overall body of work and is therefore regarded as a sort of Spanish-language Nobel Prize in Literature. The award is named after Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote.
The candidates are proposed by the Language Academies of the Spanish-speaking countries, and the prize is awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Spain. The winner receives a monetary award of 125,000 euros.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout. The Nero Award is presented annually at the Black Orchid Banquet, traditionally held on the first Saturday in December in New York City.

Arts Book (includes art, music, or photography)
Booker, Margaret Moore
The Santa Fe House
Rizzoli New York

Biography (includes memoirs and autobiographies)
Morris, James McGrath Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power
Finalists:
Cobos, Evelia They That Laugh Win
Coggeshall, Nancy Gila Country Legend: Life & Times of Quentin Hulse
Garcia, Nasario Fe y tragedias
Hunner, Jon J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cold War & Atomic West
Janowski, Martin Not Just New Mexico’s Senator Rio Grande Books

Business Book (includes career)
Rivera, Roxanne
There’s No Crying in Business: How to Succeed in Male-Dominated Industries
Palgrave

Best New Mexico History Book
WINNER
Powers, Robert - Peopling of Bandelier - SAR Press
FINALISTS
Bartlit, Nancy and Everett Rogers - Silent Voices of World War II - Sunstone Press
Hordes, Stanley - To the End of the Earth - Columbia University Press
Poling-Kempes, Lesley - Ghost Ranch - University of Arizona Press

Best New Age Book
WINNER
Heydt, M. Louise - Divine Rainbow - Sunstone Press
FINALISTS
Audlin, James David - Circle of Life - Clear Light Publishing
Viola - How Not to Do a Psychic Reading - Infinity Publishing

The Scottish Book of the Year [accessed 12/3/10) award was established in 1982 and is open to authors of Scottish descent or living in Scotland, or for a book by anyone which deals with a Scottish topic. Website has some information going back to 1958 which could yet be added to this post....

James Robertson won the £30,000 (US$46,714) Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year award for his novel And the Land Lay Still, which "examines the cultural changes in Scotland between the Second World War and the founding of the Scottish Parliament, and how the aspirations of many Scots for a socialist Britain gave way to a resurgent nationalism and a greater demand for home rule," the Scotsman reported.

2010 SHORTLIST
At the Loch of the Green Corrie by Andrew Greig, published by Quercus
Dunsinane by David Greig, published by Faber and Fabe
Da Happie Laand by Alan Jamieson, published by Luath Press
Gormshuil an Righ by Fionnlagh Macleoid, published by Ur-sgeul
Hamish Henderson: v. 2: Poetry Becomes People (1954-2002) by Timothy Neat, published by Birlinn
Rain by Don Paterson, published by Faber and Faber
Adam Smith, An Enlightened Life by Nick Phillipson, published by PenguinAnd the Land Lay Still by James Robertson -- Winner! [TJ's writer-intern]
The Stars in the Bright Sky by Alan Warner, published by Jonathan Cape

Past information from Wikipedia, accessed 12/3/10
The Saltire Society awards the following literary awards:
Scottish Book of the Year
Scottish First Book of the Year
Scottish History Book of the Year
Scottish Research Book of the Year

Non-fiction
Bomber County: The Lost Airmen of World War Two by Daniel Swift (Hamish Hamilton)
Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz (Portobello)
Romantic Moderns: English Writers, Artists and the Imagination... by Alexandra Harris --Winner!
Curfewed Night: A Frontline Memoir of Life, Love and War in Kashmir by Basharat Peer

Poetry
The Floating Man by Katharine Towers

The 2009 longlist:
The Secret Lives of Buildings by Edward Hollis
Direct Red by Gabriel Weston
The Strangest Man by Graham Farmelo
A Swamp Full of Dollars by Michael Peel
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton
The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali ShawThe Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif LarsenAn Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah -- Winner!
The Missing by Siân Hughes

Previous Winners:
Guardian First Book Award winners and shortlisted books

* 1999 Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families

* 2006 Yiyun Li, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
o Lorraine Adams, Harbor
o Clare Allan, Poppy Shakespeare
o Hisham Matar, In the Country of Men
o Carrie Tiffany, Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living

* 2007 Dinaw Mengestu , Children of the Revolution
o Tahmima Anam, A Golden Age
o Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City
o Rosemary Hill, God's ArchitectCatherine O'Flynn, What Was Lost

* 2008 Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th CenturyMohammed Hanif, A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Owen Matthews, Stalin's Children
Ross Raisin, God's Own CountrySteve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole